Editing Bill Gates (section)

== Controversies ==
=== Antitrust litigation ===
{{Further |United States Microsoft antitrust case|European Union Microsoft competition case}}
[[File:US v. Microsoft Bill Gates Color.png|thumb|Gates giving his deposition at Microsoft on August 27, 1998]]

During his tenure as CEO of Microsoft, Gates approved of many decisions that led to [[United States antitrust law|antitrust]] litigation over Microsoft's business practices. In the 1998 ''[[United States v. Microsoft]]'' case, Gates gave [[Deposition (law)|deposition]] testimony that several journalists characterized as evasive. He argued with examiner [[David Boies]] over the contextual meaning of words such as "compete", "concerned", and "we". Later in the year, when portions of the videotaped deposition were played back in court, the judge was seen laughing and shaking his head.<ref name="GatesDepositionJudgeLaugh">{{cite news |last=Wasserman |first=Elizabeth |date=November 17, 1998 |title=Gates deposition makes judge laugh in court |work=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9811/17/judgelaugh.ms.idg/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=April 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407052251/http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9811/17/judgelaugh.ms.idg/index.html |archive-date=April 7, 2013}}</ref> ''BusinessWeek'' reported:

{{blockquote|Early rounds of his deposition show him offering obfuscatory answers and saying "I don't recall" so many times that even the presiding judge had to chuckle. Worse, many of the technology chief's denials and pleas of ignorance were directly refuted by prosecutors with snippets of e-mail that Gates both sent and received.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=March 30, 2008 |url=http://www.businessweek.com/1998/48/b3606125.htm |title=Microsoft's Teflon Bill |work=BusinessWeek |date=November 30, 1998 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407081113/http://www.businessweek.com/1998/48/b3606125.htm |archive-date=April 7, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

Gates later said that he had simply resisted attempts by Boies to mischaracterize his words and actions. "Did I fence with Boies?&nbsp;... I plead guilty&nbsp;... rudeness to Boies in the first degree."<ref name="truth">{{cite magazine |last1=Heilemann |first1=John |date=November 1, 2000 |title=The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But The Truth |url=http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/8.11/microsoft.html |url-status=dead |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |volume=8 |issue=11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528131641/http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/8.11/microsoft.html |archive-date=May 28, 2014 |access-date=March 31, 2008}}</ref> Despite Gates's denials, the judge ruled that Microsoft had committed [[monopolization]], [[tying (commerce)|tying]] and blocking competition, each in violation of the [[Sherman Antitrust Act]].<ref name="truth" />

=== Treatment of colleagues and employees ===
Gates had primary responsibility for Microsoft's product strategy from the company's founding in 1975 until 2006. He gained a reputation for being distant from others; an industry executive complained in 1981 that "Gates is notorious for not being reachable by phone and for not returning phone calls."<ref name="freiberger19810831">{{cite magazine |last=Freiberger |first=Paul |date=August 31, 1981 |title=Bugs in Radio Shack TRS-80 Model III: How Bad Are They? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rD0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA49 |url-status=live |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |page=49 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902132455/https://books.google.com/books?id=rD0EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA44&pg=PA49 |archive-date=September 2, 2016 |access-date=February 28, 2011}}</ref> An Atari executive recalled that he showed Gates a game and defeated him 35 of 37 times. When they met again a month later, Gates "won or tied every game. He had studied the game until he solved it. That is a competitor".<ref name="Atari Thorlin Interview 2000">{{cite interview |last=Thorlin |first=Fred |interviewer=Kevin Savetz |title=Fred Thorlin: The Big Boss at Atari Program Exchange |url=http://www.atariarchives.org/APX/thorlininterview.php |access-date=December 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130101040619/http://www.atariarchives.org/APX/thorlininterview.php |archive-date=January 1, 2013 |url-status=live |publisher=Atari archives |date=April 2000}}</ref>

In the early 1980s, while business partner Paul Allen was undergoing treatments for [[cancer]], Gates—according to Allen—conspired to reduce Allen's share in Microsoft by issuing himself stock options.<ref name="alforbes">{{cite news |last1=Allen |first1=Frederick |date=March 30, 2011 |title=Bill Gates Tried to Screw Paul Allen? What's the Surprise? |work=[[Forbes]] |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2011/03/30/bill-gates-tried-to-screw-paul-allen-whats-the-surprise/ |access-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522182125/https://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2011/03/30/bill-gates-tried-to-screw-paul-allen-whats-the-surprise/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="acarr">{{cite news |last1=Carr |first1=Austin |date=May 21, 2021 |title=Bill Gates's Carefully Curated Geek Image Unravels in Two Weeks |work=[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]] |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-21/bill-gates-s-carefully-curated-dad-geek-image-unravels-in-two-weeks?srnd=premium&sref=i4qXzk6d |access-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522003458/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-21/bill-gates-s-carefully-curated-dad-geek-image-unravels-in-two-weeks?srnd=premium&sref=i4qXzk6d |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="hkcnn">{{cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Heather |date=October 17, 2018 |title=Paul Allen's battle with Bill Gates defined his legacy |work=[[CNN]] |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/17/tech/paul-allen-microsoft-legacy/index.html |access-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522182122/https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/17/tech/paul-allen-microsoft-legacy/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In his autobiography, Allen would later recall that Gates was "scheming to rip me off. It was mercenary opportunism plain and simple".<ref name="alforbes" /> Gates says he remembers the episode differently.<ref name="acarr" /> Allen would also recall that Gates was prone to shouting episodes.<ref name="hkcnn" />

Gates has often been accused of bullying Microsoft employees.<ref name="bbc5/8/2021">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58099778 "Epstein meetings a huge mistake, says Bill Gates"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330032153/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58099778 |date=March 30, 2022 }}. [[BBC]].</ref> He met regularly with Microsoft's senior managers and program managers, and the managers described him as being verbally combative, berating them for perceived holes in their business strategies or proposals that placed the company's long-term interests at risk.<ref name="rensin">{{cite magazine |last=Rensin |first=David |year=1994 |title=The Bill Gates Interview |magazine=Playboy}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Ballmer |first=Steve |date=October 9, 1997 |title=Steve Ballmer Speech Transcript&nbsp;– Church Hill Club |url=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/steve/churchillclub.mspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420152806/http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/steve/churchillclub.mspx |archive-date=April 20, 2008 |access-date=March 31, 2008 |publisher=Microsoft}}</ref> Gates saw competition in personal terms; when [[Borland]]'s [[Turbo Pascal]] performed better than Microsoft's own tools, he yelled at programming director [[Greg Whitten]] "for half an hour" because, Gates believed, Borland's [[Philippe Kahn]] had surpassed Gates.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wallace |first1=James |last2=Erickson |first2=Jim |title=Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire |year=1992 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=0-471-56886-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/harddrivebillgat00wall_0/page/277 277]-278 |chapter=Growing Pains |chapter-url-access=registration |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/harddrivebillgat00wall_0/page/277 }}</ref> Gates interrupted presentations with such comments as "that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard"<ref name="time GOS">{{cite news |last=Isaacson |first=Walter |date=January 13, 1997 |title=The Gates Operating System |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=http://www.time.com/time/gates/gates5.html |url-status=dead |access-date=March 31, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000619090559/http://www.time.com/time/gates/gates5.html |archive-date=June 19, 2000}}</ref> and "why don't you just give up your [[Employee stock option|options]] and join the [[Peace Corps]]?"<ref>{{cite web |last=Bank |first=David |date=February 1, 1999 |title=Breaking Windows |url=http://www.breakingwindows.net/1link3.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416032811/http://www.breakingwindows.net/1link3.htm |archive-date=April 16, 2016 |access-date=March 31, 2008 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> The target of his outburst would then have to defend the proposal in detail until Gates was fully convinced.<ref name="time GOS" /> Not all harsh language was criticism; a manager recalled that "You're full of shit. That's the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard" meant that Gates was amazed. "In the lore of Microsoft, if Bill says that to you, you're made".<ref name="smith20230226">{{Cite magazine |last=Smith |first=Matthew S. |date=February 26, 2023 |title=Flight Simulator Gave Birth to 3D Video-Game Graphics |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/microsoft-flight-simulator |magazine=IEEE Spectrum |language=en |access-date=February 28, 2023 |archive-date=February 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227112044/https://spectrum.ieee.org/microsoft-flight-simulator |url-status=live }}</ref> When subordinates appeared to be procrastinating, he was known to remark sarcastically, "I'll do it over the weekend".<ref name="chapman">{{cite news |last=Chapman |first=Glenn |date=June 27, 2008 |title=Bill Gates Signs Off |agency=Agence France-Presse |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i8aV1bK5vmwLaw9wYr9nY5bFc4YA |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630070506/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i8aV1bK5vmwLaw9wYr9nY5bFc4YA |archive-date=June 30, 2008}}</ref><ref name="pdc97" /><ref name="herbold">{{cite book |last=Herbold |first=Robert |url=https://archive.org/details/fiefdomsyndromet00herb |title=The Fiefdom Syndrome: The Turf Battles That Undermine Careers and Companies&nbsp;– And How to Overcome Them |year=2004 |publisher=Currency Doubleday |isbn=0-385-51067-5}}</ref>

=== Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein ===
A 2019 ''[[New York Times]]'' article reported that Gates's relationship with financier [[Jeffrey Epstein]] started in 2011, just a few years after Epstein was convicted for procuring a [[Child prostitution|child for prostitution]], and continued for some years, including a visit to Epstein's house with his wife in the fall of 2013, despite her declared discomfort.<ref name="Flitter-2019">{{Cite web |last1=Flitter |first1=Emily |last2=Stewart |first2=James B. |date=October 12, 2019 |title=Bill Gates Met With Jeffrey Epstein Many Times, Despite His Past |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/business/jeffrey-epstein-bill-gates.html |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/business/jeffrey-epstein-bill-gates.html |archive-date=January 1, 2022 |work=The New York Times}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Gates said in 2011 about Epstein: "His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me".<ref name="Flitter" />

The depth of the friendship between Gates and Epstein is unclear though Gates generally commented that "I met him. I didn't have any business relationship or friendship with him".<ref name="Guardian">Martin Pengelly & Rupert Neate (May 10, 2021), [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/may/10/melinda-bill-gates-divorce-jeffrey-epstein-meetings "Melinda Gates began divorce moves at time Bill's meetings with Jeffrey Epstein revealed"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511000431/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/may/10/melinda-bill-gates-divorce-jeffrey-epstein-meetings |date=May 11, 2021 }}, ''The Guardian:'' "Her meeting with divorce lawyers in October 2019 is said to have taken place at roughly the same time as a New York Times article detailed Bill's meetings with Epstein, which included an overnight stay at Epstein's New York mansion."</ref> However, Gates visited Epstein "many times, despite [Epstein's] past".<ref name="Flitter-2019" /> It was reported that Epstein and Gates "discussed the Gates Foundation and philanthropy".<ref name="Flitter-2019" /> Gates stated "Every meeting where I was with him were meetings with men. I was never at any parties or anything like that. He never donated any money to anything that I know about."<ref name="Guardian" /> In August 2021, Gates said the reason he had meetings with Epstein was because Gates hoped Epstein could provide money for philanthropic work, though nothing came of the idea. Gates added, "It was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of being there."<ref name="bbc5/8/2021" /> Gates came under further scrutiny after it was revealed that he had travelled on Epstein's private jet, though further claims about Gates travelling to Little St James proved unsubstantiated.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Norton |first=Tom |date=February 20, 2023 |title=Fact Check: Did Bill Gates visit Epstein island 37 times? |url=https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-did-bill-gates-visit-epstein-island-37-times-1782440 |access-date=November 14, 2023 |website=Newsweek |language=en |archive-date=November 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114133718/https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-did-bill-gates-visit-epstein-island-37-times-1782440 |url-status=live }}</ref>

It has also been reported that Epstein and Gates met with [[Nobel Committee]] chair [[Thorbjørn Jagland]] at his residence in [[Strasbourg, France]], in March 2013 to discuss the [[Nobel Prize]].<ref>Tore Gjerstad & Gard Oterholm (October 2, 2020), [https://www.dn.no/magasinet/dokumentar/jeffrey-epstein/thorbjorn-jagland/terje-rod-larsen/bill-gates-and-jeffrey-epstein-met-with-nobel-committee-chair/2-1-885834 "Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein met with Nobel Committee chair"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923141554/https://www.dn.no/magasinet/dokumentar/jeffrey-epstein/thorbjorn-jagland/terje-rod-larsen/bill-gates-and-jeffrey-epstein-met-with-nobel-committee-chair/2-1-885834 |date=September 23, 2022 }}, ''[[Dagens Næringsliv]] Magasinet:'' "Not only did [[Thorbjørn Jagland|[Thorbjørn] Jagland]] meet Epstein, he hosted him at his lavish residence in [[Strasbourg, France]]. At the time, Jagland was the sitting chair of the committee, which awards the prestigious [[Nobel Peace Prize]]. Also present: a [[philanthropist]] [Gates] touted as a possible Prize recipient."</ref> Also in attendance were representatives of the [[International Peace Institute]] which has received millions in grants from the [[Gates Foundation]], including a $2.5 million "community engagement" grant in October 2013.<ref>(October 2013), [https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants/2013/10/opp1100586 "International Peace Institute, Inc."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923141600/https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants/2013/10/opp1100586 |date=September 23, 2022 }}, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation</ref> In 2023, it was reported that Epstein threatened to expose an alleged affair Gates had with a Russian [[Contract bridge|bridge]] player.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Safdar |first1=Khadeeja |last2=Glazer |first2=Emily |date=May 21, 2023 |title=Jeffrey Epstein Appeared to Threaten Bill Gates Over Microsoft Co-Founder's Affair With Russian Bridge Player |language=en-US |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/jeffrey-epstein-bill-gates-affair-russian-bridge-player-8b2022ff |access-date=May 22, 2023 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=May 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522002146/https://www.wsj.com/articles/jeffrey-epstein-bill-gates-affair-russian-bridge-player-8b2022ff |url-status=live }}</ref>